BRICS countries agreed to work together more closely to combat current and future challenges in the labor market, during the 2017 BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting held in Chongqing from July 26 to 27.

More than 100 senior officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, attended the two-day meeting to tackle issues of social security, cultural exchange in labor markets, and discuss mechanisms for future collaboration.

Those in attendance included labor and employment ministers, as well as representatives from the International Labor Organization and the International Social Security Association.

The 2017 BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting took place in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from July 26 to 27. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Technology was a major talking point at the meeting, with industries continuing to automate their production lines and processes placing a downward pressure on labor markets. It was agreed that greater vocational training and more sustainable social security systems could help to alleviate this pressure.

Yin Weimin, Chinese minister of Human Resources and Social Security, said that progress in science and technology and changes in economic and demographic structures have brought new challenges to labor markets around the world, and the international community should find common ways of dealing with them.

Yin Weimin, minister of Human Resources and Social Security, gives a speech during the 2017 BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Yin put forward five suggestions to strengthen labor and employment cooperation between BRICS countries, including boosting cross-border employment opportunities and inclusive growth, and enhancing professional skills.

Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, Secretary General of the International Social Security Association (ISSA), said that automation and artificial intelligence are changing the face of labor markets across the globe, and that countries must work together to adapt.